Re: loco

From: "Wendell Huffman" wwhuffma@clan.lib.nv.us

... the "Pioneer" was the SVRR's second No.1 – a name and number it first bore in November 1869. It had previously been the SVRR No.3 "C.K. Garrison"; and before that "Elephant". The No.4 was "L.L.Robinson."

Frankly, I've never been satisfied that the SVRR really numbered their locomotives in a formal sense. However, "Nevada" – the second locomotive to run on the road – did end up wearing a No.2 late in life, which suggests it had always been No.2, and an 1870 tax inventory identifies the engines by number rather than name. In any event, the 17 November 1855 [Sacramento] Democratic State Journal states: "Engine No.3, to be called the "C.K. Garrison," is now being put together ..." The "Robinson," which seems to have been No.4 all its life didn't show up for another year after "Garrison" was already on the road.

Speaking of the well-known photo of the "Pioneer", Dave Joslyn wrote to Guy Dunscomb on 10 October 1957: "The picture that we have of the engine was taken at Front and M streets in Sacramento in 1877, with Engineer Herman Hollsinger in cab window, Fireman Andy E. Brown in gangway of engine."

Wendell